In view of the limited amount of space available at its central location, back in the 1980s the ETH Zurich planned a new building on Hönggerberg Campus for the departments of chemistry and materials and for the institutes of pharmacy and microbiology. Fisher Architekten emerged as winners of the competition set up in 1990 but, following a reworking phase, it was decided instead to further develop the project that had initially taken third place.

The new buildings proposed by Fischer Architekten working in partnership with Professor Paul Meyer are placed along a new pedestrian axis. Where it meets the existing central axis, which is extended further southwards, a central square is created for the ETH Hönggerberg. The laboratory building takes up the height of the existing buildings whereas towards the hilltop the volumes are reduced in height and the two centre buildings, thanks to their lower height in the silhouette, mark the new public transport approach route. The landscape between the local recreation areas Käferberg and Hönggerberg is preserved as a continuous green space.